Unsealed
by Risa Silvara
Summary: Tsunayoshi's flames were sealed at birth. Iemitsu did not notice the issues that would arise with sealing Tsunayoshi's magnificent sky flames. Unsealed sooner rather than later, Tsunayoshi isn't the child that Reborn thought he could mold as he sees fit and instead sees a young man, ready to take on the mafia. Tags; AU, OC characters, original mafia family, some OoCness
1. Chapter 1 - Mother Knows Best

_Chapter Summary: Nana realizes something is wrong with Tsuna from a young age and tries to solve the issue._

Please note: I do not own KHR.

 _However, any mentions of the Riva mafia family and one Alessandro Riva are entirely my own._

 _I've read the entire manga of KHR and I came to the conclusion that there had to be some sort of reason for Tsuna's obvious lack of intelligence, ability to concentrate and other issues that seem to have arisen. I headcanon that Iemitsu had Tsuna's flames sealed after he was born, in order to keep his family safe. Only, Iemitsu did not realize what sealing the flames of a Sky would do to their overall development._

This will be an AU, obviously. Given Tsuna's nature as well as non-canon families.

 _Let me know what you think about this and I'll see about continuing it in the future._

 _-x-_

Tsunayoshi was still a baby when Nana noticed that something was wrong with her baby boy. While he had been born a month early, she had noticed that he was reaching his milestones much later than he should be. Her baby's doctor assured her that everything was okay and that some babies develop faster or slower than others. Tsunayoshi simple worked at his own pace, not letting others set his pace according to the pediatrician. As a mother, she /knew/ something was wrong with her baby, but doctor after doctor and even her own husband assured that her baby was alright.

At two years old, when Tsunayoshi should have been walking and starting to talk. He said few words and still could only crawl, barely able to stand on his own. Again, the pediatrician assured her that he was simply behind in his development. Nana's frustration with no doctor listening to her concerns was getting worse and worse. However, when Nana tried to self-diagnose Tsuna and made the doctors test him for developmental issues, they all turned up negative. Still, as a mother, she knew something was wrong and continued trying to solve the issue.

Tsuna started elementary school when he was older than the rest of his classmates, but he was still behind. The nickname dame-Tsuna was born during Tsuna's elementary school years. Nana was beyond words of anger that even his teacher was calling him that. No teacher should bully a child. When the school counselor made Nana consider taking Tsuna to a child center in order to test his IQ for mental retardation, she'd had enough of that school entirely and had him transferred.

Tsuna was eight when something finally changed. Somebody finally realized something was actively wrong with her son. Having just moved into Namimori to transfer schools away from that school who thought her baby body had mental retardation, she made the decision to homeschool her son on her own. Nana sound found how difficult teaching her son was.

However, a new clinic had recently opened in nearby Tokyo and boasted of some of the best doctors in the world. When she did her research, she found the clinic to be owned by Europe's top medical company, the Riva Corporation. This was her last shot. If the Riva's doctors couldn't figure out something was wrong with her child, then she was no longer sure what she'd do.

Nana clutched Tsuna's hand as she made her way into the clinic, her child toddling along behind her. Even his balance was off-kilter at times, she'd noticed. She walked up to the front desk where a woman looked up and smiled brightly. "Welcome to the Riva's Medical Clinic, Miss. How many I be of service to you, today?" Nana signed in, stating that she had a doctor's appointment that day with the pediatrician. The woman smiled down at Tsuna who shyly smiled back at her and the woman coo'd at how cute the boy was before informing her that the doctor would be in after finishing up with a patient.

It wasn't a long wait, but during it, two men entered the clinic. One was a large blond-haired male wearing sunglasses and a crisp suit and another was a shorter male with bright red hair tied up in a long ponytail. His clothes were just as immaculate as the others. He smiled at the people in the waiting room before heading towards the desk. The receptionist darted out of her seat in excitement. "Boss! Welcome!"

The man smiled at her, urging her to return to her work and act like he wasn't there. He was simply doing a tour of their new facility in Japan and he'd wait until she was on break, or until somebody was available to show him around. The two men took a seat next to Nana and Tsunayoshi.

In her distraction by the two men who had entered, Nana didn't notice that Tsunayoshi had wandered over to the red-haired man and was staring at him. "Tsu-chan, don't be rude," the woman scolded breathlessly as she pulled her son back to her and apologized to the man.

"It's fine, ma'am. I have two children of my own. They're a curious lot, aren't they?" the man spoke, his Japanese smooth and controlled, but obviously not his first language from the Italian accent that came out of his mouth. Instead of scolding the child on his own, he held his hand out to the boy. "Hello...Tsu-chan, was it? My name is Alessandro."

Tsunayoshi struggled to pronounce the name before settling on "Arisu!" as his name and grasping onto his hand like a lifeline and bouncing up and down slightly. The man laughed at the child's antics, but frowned slightly into the touch. Red eyes met Tsunayoshi's brown ones for a second before he turned to the blond next to him. The two exchanged a look, which confused Nana.

Before she could ask, the receptionist called her back to see the doctor with her son. She felt Alessandro's gaze on her back as she entered the back to see the doctor and heard several soft Italian words that she couldn't understand between him and the blond.

The doctor they saw was more than helpful in dealing with Tsunayoshi and understood that Nana felt that something was wrong with her son. While they didn't say exactly what was wrong with him, the doctor assured her that he would run some tests to confirm a theory he had about Tsunayoshi.

There was finally some relief in Nana as the doctor assured her that there was indeed something off about Tsunayoshi's development and that he would do some research through his company about the issue. As Nana left, she saw Alessandro and the blond male who's name she didn't catch touring the facility. As the doctor saw her out, she saw him make his way over to the man.

Several days later, the doctor called and said they'd found themselves an answer to Nana's prayers. She headed off on the long drive to Tokyo with Tsunayoshi in hand. Alessandro Riva made an appearance at the clinic again, but the blond was nowhere in sight at the moment. Tsunayoshi enthusiastically greeted "Arisu," to which the man met with equal enthusiasm before leading Nana and Tsunayoshi back to the main office himself and the other doctor joined him in the office.

Alessandro formally introduced himself as Alessandro Riva, CEO of the Riva Medical Corporation. Nana already knew this from the brief exchange she had with him several days prior and had done her research. Alessandro Riva, thirty-eight years old, inherited the company from his mother at the age of seventeen upon her mysterious death. Several years afterwards was when the company made its first breakthrough with "Sunny Pills," a non-addictive anti-depressant, energy pill, and several other medical miracles - such as increased healing and an immune system booster remained on the top of the medical market. Research showed few side-effects of the pills. There was both an over-the-counter and a prescription form to the pills, which the latter was said to have a higher dosage for obvious reasons while the others were essentially sugar pills infused with their 'sunny energy' formula.

The company continued to make medical breakthroughs and has since stayed at the top of the business world in Europe. It seems that the company has recently started to expand into Asia and into America, which Nana was grateful for. They had figured out what was wrong with her son, something that wouldn't happen if they'd still been in Italy.

The two said some medical jargon, which Nana found hard to keep up with, even after years of seeing doctors and doing medical research, so she just sort of nodded for a moment. The doctor rose to his feet after several moments, offering to take Nana with him to get her some coffee, or tea, in their break room. Alessandro offered to keep Tsunayoshi company in his office, citing that he had children of his own.

Something was different when the two doctors came back, Alessandro seemed more tired than when they had left and Tsunayoshi seemed brighter than ever. Their conversation continued as the doctor offered Alessandro some tea and the conversation continued. The doctor wrote a prescription for "sunny pills" for Tsunayoshi, with Alessandro adding in that it was a new formula that was supposedly to stimulate brain development as well as concentration. With more confusion in her mind more than ever, Nana took Tsunayoshi home.

The changes in her son happened almost overnight. He was starting to understand more of the school lessons that she was teaching, his physical development had started to become better. He was more balance and seemed to have more hand-eye-coordination. Nana didn't know what to make of it, really.

Several months passed and Tsuna had been enrolled into Namimori elementary school where he had easily caught up to his classmates and then even surpassed them. Tsuna had already been several years behind them and at his teachers' discretion on the matter, Tsuna found himself returning to his own year group. Nana was astounded.

However, the changed when her husband returned from overseas and then left again. Tsuna slowed down again and Nana couldn't figure out why. His grades slipped again and Nana found herself at a loss again. She returned to the clinic, having long since taken Tsuna off his medication. The doctor frowned in thought as he looked at Tsunayoshi once more, gave him more of the pills and then disappeared into the main office.

Several days later, Alessandro Riva showed up at her door. This time, she was there when she saw bright orange flames ignite on the man's forehead as did Tsuna's. She screamed in surprise and Alessandro smiled tiredly at her as the flames died on both his and Tsuna's foreheads. "Allow me to explain, Ms. Sawada. Your son has a magnificent dying will flame, I must say," Alessandro felt his own sky flames seemingly harmonize with Tsunayoshi's again, having removed the seal upon his flames. "Dying will flames are not known by many...however, they are are a high-density form of energy that is refined by one's life-force, their will to live, essentially."

Nana nodded dumbly as she sat in a chair, staring blankly at where the bright flames had once stood against her son's head. "Is...that what is causing Tsuna's problems?"

"In a way, yes. The flames themselves aren't the issues. However, it has come to my attention that somebody had placed a seal upon his flames...I removed it the last time you were in my office. Sealing flames is not a common practice. However, it seems somebody replaced the seal…" Alessandro spoke casually, brushing his fingers through Tsunayoshi's hair for a moment. "I assure you, I've done my research...and have come to the conclusion that this is your husband's doing. Ma'am, what do you know about Iemitsu Sawada?"

"He's a construction worker in Italy for a powerful company," Nana stated quietly, staring into her cup of tea. "What's my husband got to do with these...flames, though?"

"My professional opinion is that your husband had sealed Tsunayoshi's flames in order to keep him protected. Such a strong sky flame would attract many who wish to exploit it. I, myself, am a Sky. There are other types of flames which sometimes correspond to their overall nature. The blond you saw me with the first time we met, Celino, is a lightning flame," Alessandro's hand ignited in flames again as he waved them over Nana. "You're also a latent sky flame...though, only minor...Fascinating. Yours aren't sealed, more or less...asleep. All humans can have dying will flames, but it takes special people to learn how to access and use them," Alessandro put his flame out before looking at Tsunayoshi, who had remained silent the entire time.

Tears welled up in his eyes as he asked, articulate once again due to the removal of his seal for a second time. "Papa is never home! Why we he do such a thing to me?!"

"Iemitsu could have done many things different, but it is in my opinion that he wanted to protect the both of you from our world. It's a dangerous place. However, given this, I would like to offer both of you Riva protection. My family will protect you and I will not allow Iemitsu Sawada to replace the seal." Alessandro promised. "I don't think he's realized what sealing ones flames, especially such a magnificent sky, would do in the end."


	2. Chapter 2 - Papa Bear Strikes

_Chapter Summary: Alessandro throws shade at Iemitsu and Iemitsu is not happy._

 _This received a lot more attention that I expected it to! I'm not entirely sure as to where I'm going to take this in the end, but I will try my best._

 _I have an extreme dislike for Iemitsu Sawada who abandoned his family in favor of CEDEF and left them in the dark. Nana Sawada is quite honestly a saint of a woman for staying loyal to Iemitsu when he's gone most of the year and only returns for a short time, in which he's almost always wasted during that time. She's essentially a single mother who receives a child-support check from a deadbeat father, but who otherwise stays out of their life._

 _Tsuna himself barely recognizes his own father because of this._

 _As I am a college student who works part time, updates might be sporadic._

 _Usual disclaimer of do not own KHR besides the concept of the Riva family and Alessandro Riva. Celino is my brain baby, but was brought into being by my friend Chama._

 _Alessandro's adoptive daughter, who you may hear mentions of is owned by my lovely friend, Nero. Shika is my precious little bean who will probably make an appearance at some point._

-x-

Over the next several days, Alessandro explained more and more to Nana Sawada and her son, Tsunayoshi Sawada. She asked if it was okay for him to be telling her all this and he shrugged, calmly stated that she was the wife to a powerful person in the mafia and that she had the right to know, especially if it put her in danger.

Nana found it hard to fathom this man who came so boldly into her and her son's life and was offering up his help just like that with no strings attached. Obviously, it made her wary and one day, when the man was over, she asked why he was helping her. Tsunayoshi was sitting in the kitchen, at the table, doing his homework and out of earshot. Though, Tsunayoshi seemed to trust the man and Nana had come to learn that Tsunayoshi seemed to be a great judge of character in the time she had come to know him with his flames unsealed. Though, because of Tsunayoshi's ability to seemingly tell the intentions of others or be aware, it was hard for him to make friends. There was the Yamamoto boy from down the street whose father owned a ramen and sushi restaurant as well as a few others, including a rather violent student a year ahead of Tsunayoshi that Nana couldn't fathom why until one day, she noticed the young boy feeding a stray kitten when he thought nobody was looking.

"My family is a neutral party in our world. We are simple doctors trying to help those in need. In fact, we have several enemies in the world if only because we offer our medical practices with flames to civilians," Alessandro explained as he took a sip of tea. "Some families are still stuck in the past, where they want to hoard their knowledge to themselves," he put the tea down, looking thoughtfully out into the kitchen for a moment. "I have two children of my own, both of them are adopted. I have an extreme soft spot for children in which I can't bear to see them suffer. Tsunayoshi with his flames sealed as they were was suffering quite a bit and I couldn't bear to see it continue."

Alessandro paused a brief moment, thinking about his words. "I was loathe to have to involve either of you in this business, but given that somebody had resealed Tsunayoshi's flames, I thought it best to inform you of this fact. Upon my return to Italy, I'm going to be meeting with Iemitsu and discussing the issue at hand. I have a few members of my family lurking around the area keeping an eye on things, should anything happen." He rose to his feet, walked into the kitchen to bid Tsunayoshi farewell and then bid Nana one as well before heading out into the evening.

-x-

The flight back to Italy was long and tiresome as Alessandro rifled through paperwork that needed his attention under Celino's watchful gaze. He didn't much care for paperwork and did everything in his power to avoid it, but between his partner and his daughter, there was no escape for it. As he scrawled a signature across a page, he stopped and leaned against Celino's shoulder for a moment. "Am I doing the right thing, Lion? Dragging them into this mess? It would only be a matter of time...but it would have been nice to give them both a few more years of ignorance."

Celino hummed thoughtfully for a moment before nodding his head and leaning his head over slightly to rest against Alessandro's. He didn't think Alessandro could do anything wrong. The two had been more than just Sky and Lightning for years and it was rare that Celino found fault in anything his Sky did.

"Vongola the Ninth's children are all dead and Iemitsu Sawada is trying to push for them to name his son Decimo..." Alessandro sighed heavily. "If he really wanted to keep his family safe, he would have considered changing his surname instead of keeping them in the dark. He's lucky that I'm the only one to connect the dots, so far...but it will only be a matter of time, now." Celino's hand entwined into his own as the man kissed the top of his head and left Alessandro to doze off like that for the rest of the flight.

-x-

Several days later, Alessandro was sitting in his office working on paperwork yet again. The never-ending tide of paper was definitely not fun times. He groaned and leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms when a knock came to his office door and a head poked itself in. "Boss? There's aaa...uh...Iemitsu Sawada here to see you and he's not happy..."

Before the head could even disappear and go hide, a foot smashed into the door and Iemitsu angrily walked into the room. Alessandro calmly gestured to the couch and then looked at the broken dent in his door and sighed.

The man didn't take Alessandro's offered suggested and instead slammed his hands onto the desk, scattering paper. "What right do you have, Riva?! I heard from some of my subordinates that you were at my house and you unsealed my son's flames again! What right do you have interfering in my affairs?" Flames started searing at the papers on his desk as Alessandro frowned at this fact for a moment before deciding that it was for the best that his paperwork be damned. He could blame Iemitsu for it later.

"What right I see if that sealing your son's flames was akin to cutting a limb off, Sawada," Alessandro answered him, putting away his papers in his desk before more flames could char them to pieces. "I thought for sure that the great CEDEF head and Vongola the Ninth would know what flame-sealing does to a child, especially to a sky flame of his caliber. My family has done extensive research on that and even children with extremely volatile flames do not benefit from sealing them."

"I was going to unseal them when the time was right! You had no right!" Iemitsu snarled, flames now burning holes into the nice oak desk of Alessandro's office.

To which, his own sky flames slid across the desk to out Iemitsu's. "The time was right? When? When Timeteo finally declares his retirement and you can slide your child into position as Decimo? So you can have your men mold him into the perfect little puppet that CEDEF can control? You're an outside advisor to the Vongola. Outside being the key word there. Your wife and son were already in danger because you deemed it smart to not change yours or their last name when trying to 'protect' them. It only took a few hours of digging to even find them in Namimori."

Alessandro scowled into his desk for a moment before looking up at Iemitsu coldly. "I have no biological children of my own, but I treat my adopted children as such. When it came up that you had sealed your son's flames, he started crying and asking 'why' you would do that to him? When I first met Tsunayoshi, he had no friends because your wife decided to home-school him for a time because of how far behind he was in comparison to other children his age. His grades were abysmal and he could barely walk a straight line without losing balance. How is any of that protecting your son? Your family should be as physically protected as much as they are mentally. When's the last time you took your wife out to dinner? Or brought her home a present just because you could? It's been awhile, hasn't it? Have you even told her that you love her recently? Protection isn't just the physical kind, Iemitsu."

Alessandro rose from his desk to face an almost speechless Iemitsu before pointing at the door. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Sawada. I promised my children I'd pick them up from school today and we'd go out to dinner together," at this the door swung open with Celino in the doorway, prepared to escort Iemitsu out of the building and to his vehicle. Alessandro swept passed Iemitsu for a brief moment to lock arms with the taller male to also escort Iemitsu out of the building.

Iemitsu snarled something at the man that was probably profanity, but Celino merely shot him this dark look while Alessandro didn't particularly care what the other was saying. "You're really asking for it, Riva. Come near my family again and you might be looking at war."

At this, Alessandro paused and then looked at Iemitsu calmly, brushing a strand of red hair behind his ear before speaking. "I would not casually spout threats in my own home, Iemitsu Sawada. The Vongola would not declare war on us due to our truce and I have the Giglio Nero and the Sky Arcobaleno to back me. Have you heard? As it turns out, my adopted son is a distance cousin of Aria's family," he stated this in a conversational tone. "As I'm aware you employ two of the Arcobaleno, I doubt either of them would go against their Sky and her family, am I correct? Now, if you're quite finished in spouting all that hot air...Celino and I will gladly escort you to your vehicle.

-x-

 _Alessandro usually isn't like this. Really. However, when you threaten the well-being of his children, or his family...you got a problem there._

 _A little background on the Riva - which may not come up until later on in this if at all. The Riva aren't near as old as the Vongola. In fact, their history begins before the eve of World War II in Italy as a resistant group to Mussolini and his alliance with Hitler._

 _After the war, the Riva continued to do work against corrupt government officials and other members of society. Eventually, they branched off into medical research and development while still working in the background against corruption. More or less, they are a bit like the Vongola...only they lack the bloody history that the Vongola has. In Alessandro's era - the last 20 years as leader - he's made truces with the Vongola as well as became an official branch of the Giglio Nero. They had high hopes that they'd be able to find a way to prolong the Sky Arcobeleno's life, but it didn't happen._

 _The Riva family actually did not start out in a KHR RP, but floated around in various other settings for my OC, Shika. Shika is Alessandro's adopted son with distant ties to the Giglio Nero from his mother. Celino, ironically enough, uses Gamma as his FC when he gets used in roleplay settings. So it's also likely that Celino is either related to Gamma or just a doppleganger. Who knows. Also, yes, Celino and Alessandro are together._


	3. Chapter 3 - Attack of the Cute Children

_Chapter Summary: In which the mafia finally figures out Tsunayoshi and Nana's existence and goes after them...only to be stopped by a tiny hitman._

 _I've always wondered why if Iemitsu intended Tsunayoshi to ever be in the mafia...why didn't he even subtly suggest that Tsuna take some sort of fighting classes or even do anything to help him - besides Nono sending Reborn when he's older._

 _Usual Disclaimer; KHR is not mine. Do not own it. Wish I did. Would change some things._

 _However, Serafina, Luca, and Shika are all OC's of mine._

-x-

It had been several months since Alessandro Riva's last visit to Namimori, but Nana and Tsunayoshi weren't particularly worried about the fact. They hadn't seemed to have an issues, either...so neither of them had been particularly worried.

Nana had enrolled Tsunayoshi in martial arts courses, upon a recommendation from Alessandro himself. Apparently, the owner of this particularly dojo was a disciple of a 'Fon,' that the red-haired man spoke highly of. Surprisingly enough, Hibari Kyouya had also been a member of the same martial arts course. It surprised her even further when the instructor informed her that Hibari was a distant relative of Fon's, much to the violent's boy's chagrin as he threatened to "bite the instructor to death," Nana didn't quite understand the threat, to be honest. Or his habits of referring to people as "herbivores."

Tsuna had made leaps and bounds in his martial arts studies, as well as his studies. Nana couldn't help but wonder why her husband had chosen to seal his flames, if this was Tsuna without them sealed. Iemitsu had been home once since the unsealing, but hadn't made a move towards Tsuna. Nana had outright threatened to divorce him and file for sole custody of her son. In retrospect, perhaps being a single housewife probably wouldn't have the most pull with the courts of wanting to be the sole provider for her son when Iemitsu payed for most of their bills, but it was a threat that had worked, for the most part. She had felt awful about it after, though. Despite everything, the lies and the secrets, she still loved him and she could tell that he still loved her.

She had been surprised to see him not get drunk the entire week he was home and instead spend time with his son and wife like they were a normal family. When she commented on it, Iemitsu just got this dark look on his face and muttered something about Alessandro under his breath. Nana had that man to thank for the nice time with her husband, it seemed. Though, with a new diamond-encrusted necklace as apparently a peace offering, Nana couldn't really complain about it.

Tsunayoshi, despite the time with his father, still didn't get along with him. Nobody could really blame him because Iemitsu had been the reason for so many of his issues over the years.

Iemitsu had ever offered to provide a tutor for Tsunayoshi's schooling and his fighting, but was politely declined in favor of his current instructor. Yamamoto Takeshi had even started learning kendo, stating that if his best friend was "gonna learn how to defend himself" then, so should he. Although, given Yamamoto had no knowledge of the mafia or his inherent flames that he possessed, he took his kendo lessons as more of a joke than anything. While he seemed to be a natural, his lack of dedication was rather detrimental to him in the long-run. Tsunayoshi's couldn't really blame the boy for not taking it seriously.

At nine-years old now, Tsunayoshi had acquired a degree of maturity that his age-group didn't seem to possess. Again, he had few friends, but those he had acquired were fiercely loyal to their Sky. Yamamoto Takeshi, Hibari Kyouya, and he had somehow acquired the brother to one of his classmates as a close friend, one Ryohei Sasagawa who declared the Tsunayoshi should join the boxing club as soon as possible once he had found out the boy knew martial arts. Boxing and martial arts weren't really the same, but either way...Ryohei wanted him.

Tsunayoshi wasn't a fan of violence without reason, so he declined joining the club. He promised he would support Ryohei at any of his matches though, joining his little sister in showing their enthusiasm for Ryohei whenever he had a match.

All in all, life was great.

-x-

Until several days after Iemitsu had left Namimori to return to Italy, taking the CEDEF members who had accompanied him with him. Nana still felt safe, even without her husband and his group around. Alessandro and Iemitsu had both promised to keep them safe. Despite the fact that the two didn't get along whatsoever, they made a decent team when it came to providing protection for both her and Tsunayoshi.

However, on parents day, when Nana and Tsunayoshi were leaving the school yard on their way home...Tsunayoshi seemed on edge the entire way home. When they turned down their quiet street, three large men came out of nowhere at them. Nana screamed as their flames burst into life - two storms and a rain. They were bellowing in Italian at them, which Nana didn't understand. Tsunayoshi understood a little, having taken to learning some Italian through an online course because his school didn't offer Italian as a foreign language.

The largest of the men, one of the storms came lurching towards her, leering at the child near her as he mentioned something about "Vongola." The rain was wielding a guan dao polearm, while the storm had a pair of fighting gauntlets and the other seemed to be in charge of the two, but had a pair of firearms holstered and seemingly wasn't taking part.

Tsunayoshi froze for a moment, startled by the attacking men. This had been the first time either of them had been in an actual fight, but after a moment of fear as his mother grabbed his hand and prepared to run, something clicked in his brain. Breaking free from his mother's hand, Tsunayoshi's activated his flames and fell into his martial arts stance. He wasn't an expert by any means, but something inside was telling him that staying to fight was the better option that running away.

As the storm-wielder with the gauntlets loomed closer, Tsunayoshi reacted, remembering one of the stances that his instructor had taught him. While the man was a storm-user like the instructor before him, he had informed him that this was one of his master's signature moves. As Tsunayoshi moved, his sky flames shot foward in the form of a dragon, the Exploding Lotus Kempo, and crashed into the man. It didn't seem to do much, as Tsunayoshi didn't have a lot of punch in his well...punches due to his small size and inexperience in an actual fight like that. "

The storm paused, growling as he patted out orange sky flames on his coat with his own storm flames when something hit him hard in the back of the head and he went down.

Nana started, in shock, at the small...child? That stood on the man's back, holding up to fingers in a peace sign at the woman and other child he had just saved. The kid was barely five feet tall, if she had to guess his height, only a little taller than Tsunayoshi. Bright green eyes and a mop of dark brown hair as he whirled, two knives slipping out of his sleeves as he used them to lightly deflect the rain users guan dao. He spun towards the other storm, one of his knives flying out of his wrist into the barrel of the gun he had just drawn as it exploded from the storm flames he had just charged into it. The force of his own flames charged into a small weapon caused him to scream as the property of his own flames corroded his flesh and he went down, hard in a burnt heap of flesh.

Nana thought she'd be sick at the smell of it, but she couldn't tear her gaze away from the child who couldn't be that much older than Tsunayoshi, danced and hopped around the rain user, his speed and dexterity more than making up for his size, making what was obviously taunts in rapid Italian. The man angrily lurched forward at the child as eyes suddenly lit up in what could only be outright cunning as he didn't move, but suddenly the man crashed straight into a metal pole. Nana blinked, not having even seen the metal pole there before. She noticed the location of the pole, realizing it was the sign for her own street and was confused. How had that man not seen the pole? How had /she/ not noticed the pole until then.

"Who put that there," the small child stated, now in Japanese, and in mock innocence. He was now sitting on the man's back, a knife - a stiletto - was held against his neck as he absentlymindedly waved another in his hand. Where did he get that one? Nana wasn't sure she wanted know. He paused a moment, flicking his wrist as ropes made out of his mist flames coiled around the man's arms and legs. He got up, stowed his knives in several odd places on his person and withdrew the man's wallet from his back pocket, rifling through his items and withdrawing his ID, some cash, and a few other things before discarding the wallet in a trash can.

He made his way over to the one he had knocked out first and lifted up his head to make sure he was still outcold and also allowed ropes to tie him up. He stopped for a moment at the burnt one, pressing his fingers to his unburnt wrist. Satisfied that he found a pulse, he pulled out a cellphone and spoke several rapid Italian words into a number he called before closing it and lightly making his way over to Tsunayoshi and Nana Sawada.

Now that he was close and not a blur of fast movement, Nana could see for certain that the kid couldn't have been older than ten or eleven? It was hard to tell. The kid was somewhat scrawny in his stature, obviously short - Tsunayoshi would wind up taller than this kid and Tsuna wasn't even that tall in the first place. Nana blinked a moment and looked closer at the soft features the child had and concluded. He was adorable. Tsunayoshi was adorable, as well and as she looked between the two she found she didn't actually know who was cuter.

Before he could introduce himself, two other people came running up, a gorgeous blonde woman with blue eyes. Nana couldn't take her eyes off the woman for a moment, suddenly feeling somewhat inadequate in comparison to her. The other, a man, was also somewhat distracting and not for the same reason. He had heterochromia of blue and gold, but his canines were sharp like an animal, though the thing that stood out the most were the nasty scars that ran across his golden eye. "Ummn...thank you," Nana finally got out after a moment of silence. "Your child saved us."

Said child made a face at being called a child as he looked at the two for a moment then let out a puff of air. "I'm fifteen, by the way." Nana had to do a double-take. No way this kid was fourteen. He had to be...Tsuna's age, maybe ten, even. No way was this kid fourteen. He made a face at the bewildered look she gave while the woman cracked up in laughter.

"You're so adorable when you're angry like this, Shika-chan~" The women cooed as the man went about to finish securing the scene, moving with a grace only seen in cats. She leaned forward, using his head as a convenient arm rest. "He's not our son, actually..."

Shika? Wasn't that...a girls name? Tsunayosh, in all his nine-year old glory, for once showing his age had to blurt out. And Shika gave him this deadpan look for a moment before not even bothering to answer, instead turning his attention back to Nana. "Papa sent me here to help keep an eye on Tsunayoshi..."

"Papa?" Nana echoed, confused as to who he was was referring to. Shika blinked for a moment, before blushing red and offering his hand out for a hand shake. "Shika Riva, I'm Alessandro Riva's adopted son. This is Serafina and Luca di Leone."

"Oh! Alessandro mentioned he had a pair of adopted children," Nana blurted out, startled. "You're not...what I expected," she admitted, looking at the child. He was so...scrawny, she noted. Did Alessandro not feed the boy or something. Shika flushed red, obviously used to the looks of "I must feed this smol precious child," from people. "I've only been with Papa for about three years...I'm working on my non-existent eating habits still... Please don't feed me."

Serafina cackled again as she ruffled the kid's hair. "He gets that look of people wanting to feed him a lot. I mean, look at him. He's so tiny...but he's cute, at least." Nana had to agreed that the kid was adorable. As she looked at his pale olive-toned skin and the way he carried himself, almost always prepared for something to attack him, but somewhat more at ease with two people he trusted. She couldn't help but wonder how Alessandro had come across the kid...or his other child for that matter. She didn't want to pry.

After a few more moments, an rather inconspicuous mini-van drove up and a man hopped out of the drivers set as Serafina, Luca, and him set on getting the three men into the van. Shika watched on for a moment before turning back to Nana. "From what I've gathered, those three are members of the Estraneo..." Shika stated quietly, glancing behind him at in particular, Luca, who nearly dropped the man he was carrying and went ridged for a moment before being calmed by Serafina who whispered something to him before they were loaded into the van.

Shika frowned thoughtfully before turning back to Nana and Tsunayoshi. "The Estraneo are one of the most hated members of mafia society...but they're hard to pin down," he lowered his voice as Luca climbed into the back of the van and closed the door. "And are known for experimenting on children and other nefarious deeds..." Nana felt sick as she looked down at Tsunayoshi and then back at Shika for a moment before asking. "Is that how Alessandro came across you?"

"No," Shika stated, shaking his head. "Papa found me three years ago on the streets in Italy, just trying to survive," Shika shifted slightly for a moment, unsure of how much he should say, but just left it at that. "Anyway, I imagine they've figured out who Tsunayoshi is and are trying to kidnap one of the Vongola heirs to have leverage against them...that's my take on the matter...but those three won't be making it back to their base..." Shika didn't continue, leaving out the details of what would probably happen to them. "But anyway! How about we go back to our safe house, I'll make some tea and we can forget this entire thing? Actually, we've bought a house in your neighborhood...so we're not far away," Shika stated evenly, before waving two more wallets he had retrieved off those men. "I'll order take out. On them. If they're going to traumatize a cute child and his mother, then they should at least buy them dinner!" Shika stated, in excitement as he lead them both back to the house they had bought. Nana was surprised that it was only a few doors down from her own.

Shika showed them the living room before heading into the kitchen to put on a pot of tea. Nana glanced around, blinking. It looked so normal for a house that housed several members of the mafia. She saw a few pictures of Alessandro, Celino, Shika, and an orange-haired girl who looked several years older than him. Another picture looked extremely old and partially destroyed, but kept in a nice picture frame. It pictured Shika, who couldn't be older than five-years old with a tall, soft-brown haired woman with green eyes. Nana couldn't help but note that the woman appeared to be pregnant in the photograph. She stared at it for a moment, surprised by the resemblance between the woman who could only be Shika's mother and Shika. Part of the picture was ripped, like somebody had been torn out of the picture and she noted that while there were a couple pictures of the woman, there were no pictures of his biological father, just Alessandro and Celino.

Meanwhile, Tsunayoshi was going through a bookshelf and his eyes widened. "There's so much manga here!" he squealed, excited as he rifled through Shika's manga collection on the bookshelf in the living room. After a few moments, he frowned. "Why is it all shoujo and magical girls?!" After a few more moments, he did find a couple shounen manga that piqued his interest and pulled them out to read.

Shika came out several moments with a few cups of tea that he set down on the coffee table as he looked at Tsunayoshi, then at Nana admiring a picture of his mother. "My mother, Varina Rovati. She died shortly before I turned six years old," Shika stated shortly. There was probably more to it than that, but Nana decided not to pry. "Though, she liked Japanese culture, hence my name..." he rubbed his chin a moment, before smiling. "She wanted a girl, I think, when she named me. It's fine," he laughed lightly, clearly unbothered by it. "She loved me just as much, though...But she did get what she wanted in a way, I really like cute things."

Nana opened her mouth to ask about his father, but then closed it again as she turned around to sit back down and take her tea, adding a few lumps of sugar into it while Tsunayoshi loaded his up. Typical nine-year old. Though, apparently Shika's love of cute, girly things also explained the multitude of magical girl and shoujo manga on his bookshelf in the room. And also the stuffed animal that Nana had sat on that had been partially buried in the couch. It was a stuffed lion, which she tossed to Shika.

"Oh! That's where he went! Thanks," Shika stated, hugging onto the lion as he sipped at his tea and flipped through the phone book, looking for take-out to order. At some point, Nana noticed him slide one of his knives into the back of the stuffed lion and Nana couldn't help but wonder about the kid with an obsession with cute girly items, stuffed animals, and knives.

"I'm starting at the junior high school this week," Shika announced after a moment. "Papa wants me to keep an eye on Tsunayoshi and says my social skills around kids my own age needs some work...I haven't been to actual school since...well..." Shika thought about it a moment, then shrugged. "It's been awhile."

Nana was glad that there would be somebody to watch Tsunayoshi while he was at school, even if the kid looked like he couldn't take down a fly the way he was cuddling with that stuffed lion and looked completely innocent in every way imaginable. She liked how Namimori schools were set up - in the sense that that students remained in the same area for their entire schooling, but in different buildings on the property. Tsuna was in his last year of primary school, but was also taking junior high school classes, while Shika seemed to be in his final year of junior high school before he'd head to senior high school.

The three ordered take-out that evening, with Shika then walking them home that evening. When he wasn't in a fight, he was quite friendly and absolutely adorable the way he held onto his stuffed animals. Nana couldn't help but wonder what had actually happened to him that caused him to wind up in Alessandro's care.

-x-

 _This is several years before canon, so the Estraneo is still an active family. At this point, this is just a few months before Mukuro wipes them out completely, seemingly leaving behind no survivors._

 _Luca di Leone is actually a pun on his abilities - and was one of the first child experiments that the Estraneo attempted. He's the precursor to Ken's animal channels - as Luca can only do cats, while Ken has a wider arrange of animals. Leone means "lion."_

 _Also because of being one of the first, the animal channels wasn't the only thing they tried with him. His heterochromia stems from the fact that they attempted to recreate the Flames of Wrath with him. Sort of. Luca has cloud flames - so they attempted to make a hybrid of Sky and Cloud with him as Flames of Wrath are a Sky-Storm hybrid. Luca's Cloud Flames have some Sky qualities to it, but he's not a Sky. His gold eye belonged to some Sky Flame user and they replaced his own with it._

 _Deemed a failure by the Estraneo when he was maybe a little older than Tsunayoshi is now, they sold him on the blackmarket to help further fund their 'research' where he would eventually actually be rescued by Alessandro's mother and adopted into her family._

 _Shika is one of my favorite OC's. He's one of those odd-ball Mist Users that is skilled in close-combat. He's my smol little shota child who likes cute things, magical girl manga, stuffed animals, and knives. Also, he uses his mist flames to make cosplay for himself. Usually magical girls. Ironically, his mother's FC in some cases in Princess Sakura from Tsubasa - so Shika cosplays Sakura Kinomoto from Card Captor as one of his favorites. He's a weeb like me. Don't judge him. Also, how many of you thought I was talking about Reborn when I said "tiny hitman?"_

 _Sadly, I have two other OCs that can't be used for this time-frame. Shika was a lot easier to displace than the other two - as both claim ancestry with Yamamoto and Xanxus. Ryuu is Yamamoto's grandson and Arashi is Xanxus' grandson and successor to the Flame of Wrath and the Varia. Though, TBH, Arashi could be related to Hibari too because he loves small animals...mostly dogs. Dude loves dogs more than people._

 _Also, I really really apologize for my inability to write decent fight-scenes._


End file.
